The present invention relates generally to a mold for casting hollow point bullets and particularly to a mold for casting hollow point bullets which have annular grooves.
Most serious shooting enthusiasts reload their own cartridges and many of these individuals also mold their own bullets. The conventional bullet molding device includes a pair of levers which are pivoted together in scissor-like fashion. One end of each lever includes a handle. The opposite end of each lever has a mold half. Each mold half has a parting surface which contains a depression which is in the shape of half a bullet. The mold halves are mounted on their respective levers so that the parting surfaces of the mold halves face each other. When the handles are moved towards each other, the mold halves also move towards each other until the parting surfaces of the mold halves abut. The depressions in the mold halves are aligned so that they form a cavity which has the shape of the bullet to be cast. Locating pins are employed to ensure perfect alignment of the mold halves.
When a hollow point bullet is molded, one of the molds is provided with a pin which extends partly into the cavity. However, a certain type of bullet which is used for muzzle loading firearms cannot be molded in this manner if the bullet is to have a hollow point. The muzzle loading bullet is provided with one or more annular grooves. The bullet cannot be removed in the axial direction because of the grooves or in a direction which is transverse to the longitudinal axis of the bullet because of the pin. Either, the bullet is cast without a hollow point so that the hollow point can be formed after casting by drilling or the mold is provided with a removable hollow point forming pin. In the latter case, the parting surface of each mold half also has an elongated shallow depression which extends from the bullet-shaped depression to the opposite end of the mold. The shallow depressions combine to form a bore which leads from the opposite end of the mold to the bullet cavity when the mold halves are joined. The bore is adapted to receive an elongated pin of an awl-shaped fixture. The fixture and mold are provided with complementary locking means to hold the fixture on the mold in a predetermined position. When the fixture is in the predetermined position, the pin extends into the mold cavity. When the bullet is cast, the fixture is removed from the mold, thereby forming an aperture in the front end of the bullet and thereby forming a so-called hollow point bullet.
One of the disadvantages of the conventional mold for grooved hollow point bullets is that the mold requires an extra removable fixture which can be lost or misplaced. Also, the process of applying and removing the fixture from the mold adds extra steps to the bullet casting process which makes the production of grooved hollow point bullets very slow compared to conventional bullets. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated by the present invention.
It is, therefore, a principle object of the invention to provide a mold for a grooved hollow point bullet which includes a hollow point fixture which is attached to the mold, remains attached to the mold during and after the entire bullet casting process and which allows the cast bullet to be removed from the mold.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a mold for grooved hollow point bullets which remains attached to the mold during casting of bullets and at other times and which can also be removed from the mold if desired so that fixtures with different pin lengths can be selectively used.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of a mold for a hollow point bullet which is simple in construction, which is inexpensive to manufacture and which is capable of a long life of useful service.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.